Morgan's investor payout is raised

Perelman to receive about $1.55 billion

June 24, 2005|By Bloomberg News.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Morgan Stanley's award to billionaire Ronald Perelman was increased by $100.5 million Thursday by a Florida judge, who added interest charges to damages won in a jury trial last month.

The move by Judge Elizabeth Maas brings to roughly $1.55 billion the amount that Morgan Stanley must pay Perelman, who said the firm defrauded him in the 1998 sale of Coleman Co. to Sunbeam Corp.

Morgan Stanley must post a $1.8 billion bond before any appeal, the judge said.

"We are pleased that the judge has agreed that this was a fair verdict," said Christine Taylor, a spokeswoman for Perelman. "We fully expect this judgment to be upheld on appeal."

Last month, jurors found that Morgan Stanley, a Sunbeam adviser, should be punished for misrepresenting its client's financial health and for mishandling e-mails in the case. Perelman was granted $850 million in punitive damages two days after the jury awarded him $604.3 million in actual damages to cover his losses on the deal.

Maas rejected Morgan Stanley's request to throw out the verdict. The total award exceeds Morgan Stanley's fiscal first-quarter net income of $1.47 billion. The company said it plans to appeal.

"We believe we have multiple grounds on which to appeal and fully expect to prevail," spokesman Andrew Walton said.

Perelman, who owned 82 percent of Coleman, a maker of camping equipment, claims Morgan Stanley conspired with Sunbeam to mislead him about its sales in 1997 and 1998 to get him to sell Coleman.